


mementos

by bonrin



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Coming Out, Confessions, Everyone Is Gay, Fujoshis Don't Touch, Kinda?, Love Letters, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Valentine's Day, White Day, fuck canon timelines we die like men, if you havent read around chapter 90 in the manga, lewin has become cool uncle, platonic rin/shiemi is so good man., there is vague lewin/angel mention here, they'll be pretty big, theyre dumbass best friends, theyre kinda major spoilers so like fuck ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 09:41:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17896088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonrin/pseuds/bonrin
Summary: Ryuuji starts getting love letters from girls in his locker. He gets used to it.Until there's one that apparently isn't a girl and it really catches his eye.





	mementos

**_Feb. 14th_ **

 

It was a normal day at True Cross. It was still snowing every week, and despite the fact that many people hated the cold, it’d be fine. It was the regular weather for this time of year and it’d be over in around a month or so.

But today was special, it was Valentine’s Day, the day where girls in Japan would give gifts the boys they liked, and wait exactly a month for White Day, the day where boys gave gifts to the girls they liked.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Shima said oh-so-casually. “And White Day is next month.”

The Exwires had just been dismissed from class and everybody was collecting all their things, preparing to leave and go back to the dorms or off to study and hang out. Ryuuji slung his bag over his shoulder. “Makes sense for you to remember.”

Shima turned towards Kamiki and she said “No” without even looking up from gathering her homework.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Shima yelled desperately.

“So don’t,” she said.

“Hey guys, go off to Ponchan without me! I’ll be back later! See ya!” Okumura yelled out and quickly ran out of the classroom.

“Where’s Rin going? He looked like he was in a hurry,” Moriyama asked.

“Dunno,” Ryuuji responded. “Probably went off to fuck around before we study.”

“You coming, Bon?” Konekomaru asked as he and Shima walked towards the door.

“Yeah, I actually gotta go get my scarf from my locker. Go on without me, I’ll meet you there.”

 

* * *

 

Ryuuji was on his way to his locker and through the crowd of other students, he thought he saw a glimpse of a red sword case sticking out behind a head of white hair running past him in the opposite direction.

_The hell’s he doing?_ was Ryuuji’s only thought.

When he got to his locker, he opened it and was greeted by-

Ah, shit. A few goddamn love letters fell out. Maybe around four.

Ryuuji was kind of tired of these, he got them sometimes and didn’t really understand why, but he still read them anyway to try to be polite. Sometimes they were signed, either with an actual name, initials or just something along the words of “somebody” or “your secret admirer,” or they weren’t signed. Sometimes they’d be a confession and if he knew the girl he would bow and reject as politely as he could. Sometimes it worked and turned out fine, but other times like when he was asked to the dance of the Cultural Festival, the girl would break down crying and it… shocked him, to say the least.

He did get a few offers of chocolate and other candies today from a few female classmates, and he’d had to do the same thing as all the other times he was asked out; luckily nobody broke down crying this time. He was relieved.

Ryuuji decided he’ll look at these later and shoved them somewhere in between a textbook, grabbed his scarf and closed his locker, heading off to Ponchan.

While he and the other male Exwires (except Takara, if he even counted) ate and studied, he ended up having to open up the textbook where he’d forgotten he shoved the letters into. Teasing _and_ complaining from Shima ensued.

He’d gotten back to the dorm room he shared with Shima and Konekomaru and decided to open up and read the letters he’d gotten before bed. Three of them were the same as usual, all confessions albeit unsigned. The last one he opened really caught him off guard, though.

_hey, i’m a guy so this is_

_weird for me to send today._

_i wanna say happy valentine’s_

_day though! you’ll hear more_

_from me next month._

__\- R_ _ 

It was written quickly and messily on a yellow Post-It note that had been folded in half, the sticky part had lost its stick and looked like it had been stuck on a piece of clothing and taken off after a bit. He didn’t really recognize the handwriting.

It _really_ caught Ryuuji into a twist, though.

_This wasn’t a girl?_ He didn’t even think about there being other gay people besides himself at True Cross, but this was— this was interesting.

Never did Ryuuji think he would ever get a note like this from a _guy,_ at True Cross out of all places— he wondered what this dude thought. Did he pick up on the really low signals Ryuuji had been giving? All the girl rejecting, and the really vague thing where a lot of gay people dye their hair or get undercuts, and the other vague thing where the idea of being punk is about being angry about the oppression of minorities, and gay people were minorities?

Ryuuji was only really out to the other Exwires. He'd come out to Shima and Koneko before the school year started, and with the others it just kind of… came up briefly. They came out too, though.

Was “R” the initial of a first name or a last name? He didn't wanna run through a mental list of everyone he knew whose name started with R. Was this person even in his classes at all? He didn't really talk to people unless necessary, so it was surprising anybody even got a sort of crush on him at all if it weren't just for his looks.

There was no way he'd tell anyone about this. Maybe Koneko, but definitely not Shima, or anybody else.

He decided to leave the note in his bag and the other ones, as rude as it was, in the trash. He would deal with all his thoughts some other time.

 

* * *

 

**_Mar. 7th_ **

 

“White day is next weeeek,” Shima said in a singsong voice. “Hey, Izumo-chan—”

“No. And don’t call me that.”

“Dammit,” Shima responded with a helpless smile and a clench of his fist. “Hey, Okumura, you up for studying at—”

“Nope, sorry, gotta go, bye!” Okumura shouted out and ran out of the classroom.

“There he goes,” Ryuuji said as he shoved a textbook into his bag and closed it up. “If he fails a class he can’t blame me.”

“Damn, everyone loves interrupting me today. You wanna go to Ponchan, Bon?”

“Nah, I've gotta go do Lightning's laundry again,” The teen swung the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “I’m off. See ya.”

Ryuuji left the classroom and made his way to his locker to grab his scarf again. He opened it up and was met by a yellow sticky note falling to the floor. He'd kind of forgotten about what happened with a yellow sticky note the month before, so once he opened it up and remembered it made his chest feel light.

_hey, it's me again_

_here to say you're extremely badass_

_white day is in a week!_

_that's when you'll find out who i am ;)_

__\- R_ _

He put a scowl on his face and shoved the note into his uniform jacket's pocket out of embarrassment. He grabbed his scarf and slammed the locker closed a little harder than he originally wanted to and a few people turned to look, so he just ignored them and decided to just go ahead and walk to Lightning's place.

It was funny. He didn't even know who this was but the fact that he was getting _butterflies?_ Bullshit. This guy had only put two notes in his locker. _Two._

But god, if he wasn't curious.

 

* * *

 

“I’m here,” Ryuuji yells out as he walks into Lewin’s place.

“Oh, hey! The laundry baskets are over here,” Lewin shouts back from another room. Ryuuji knows exactly where he is and walks in, immediately grabbing the first laundry basket and taking it over to the other room where the washer and dryer are.

Lewin’s sitting on a bookcase, laying against the wall and reading and notices something fall out of Ryuuji’s pocket. He goes and picks it up. “Ryuuji, you dropped something,” he yells and sticks his head out the door. He gets curious and unfolds the paper and reads it—

_Holy shit._

Ryuuji comes back. “What’d I— oh, SHIT,” he screams as he notices what Lewin is holding and runs towards him, trying to grab it.

Lewin holds it over his head and jumps back on the bookshelf he was sitting on. “Heeey, why didn’t you tell me someone’s into you?” he asks.

Ryuuji tries jumping to get the note back, but Lewin waves it in the air and stands on the bookshelf on his tiptoes. “I just got here so I wasn’t just gonna _bring it up_ like that, and I thought it was kinda stupid anyway, I—” he steps back as he inhales Lewin’s smell and pinches his nose. “—also, take a goddamn shower for once!”

“Aw, c’mon kid, learn to live your life for once,” Lewin says with a laugh. “Also, I thought Valentine’s Day was last month? White Day is the boys version, right? I only know a little bit of this stuff since I’m not from here,” he says a little bluntly, still smiling, yet it’s softer and kind of… careful? Reluctant?

Empathetic?

Ryuuji’s stopped trying to get the note back at this point, and Lewin’s stopped waving it over his head, and his feet are in a normal stance now.

“Uh, yeah, it— it was, it is,” the teenager says, shoving his hand into his jacket pocket, and his other rubs the back of his neck. He can feel himself shaking a little, and he stays as still as he can, probably even sweating a little, too.

Lewin sits down and crosses his legs, his arms behind him and hands on the surface of the shelf, leaning back. The note’s under his hand. “It’s alright, you know. If this person’s into you, that’s fine, and if you’re into them, that’s fine, too.” His signature smile is still on his face, yet it’s unsettling because he’s showing _empathy_ and Ryuuji doesn’t know if he’s afraid or relieved. “And I get it.”

“You— you do?” Ryuuji asks, hesitantly, and stops rubbing the back of his neck, but his hand stays there.

“Yeah,” Lewin says. “Angel and I.”

Ryuuji’s eyes widen and he finally brings himself to smile a little, and he almost has to stifle a laugh. “The Paladin?”

“What? I thought you like, honored him or something,” Lewin teases and smiles wider.

“Nah, I do, just like, you? And him? No, nevermind, I’ll shut up,” Ryuuji shoves his other hand into his pocket like the other.

Lewin’s smile goes back to how it was before. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, or made you feel forced to talk, or anything like that. Should’ve asked first.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Ryuuji shakes his head. “It’s— more than fine, actually.” His voice gets quieter and his eyes look to the side. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Lewin replies.

Ryuuji stands there for a moment. “…Can I get the note back?”

“Yeah, yeah, here you go,” Lewin holds it out and Ryuuji takes it, and puts it back into his pocket. “Now go do the laundry.”

“Yeah, I’ll go do that,” the brunet says and walks away.

 

* * *

 

**_Mar. 8th_ **

 

“Where the hell did he run off to?” Ryuuji asks after Okumura goes and rushes out of the room after class without saying anything.

“Um, I don’t— I don’t know,” Moriyama says. “I asked him right before he left and he said it’s a secret and he’ll only say next week…? I didn’t get to say anything else…”

Ryuuji only wonders about it for a second and decides not to bother. “It’s fine. Thanks, Moriyama.”

He anticipatingly kind of speedwalks to his locker afterwards, and when he does get there, he opens it slowly to make sure the note he _knows_ is in there doesn’t fall out. He unfolds it and reads it, trying to keep a stoic face so nobody would suspect anything.

_it’s friday!_

_you stole my heart,_

_but you know what?_

_i’ll let you keep it_

__\- R_ _

Ryuuji got kind of disappointed when he saw how short the note is but the message itself sent his heart doing somersaults. This was just the third note and god _damn_ whoever this was knew what they were doing.

“Hey. Did you get a love note again?” Lewin asked casually once Ryuuji walked through his door.

“Yeah,” Ryuuji replied with his face dusting with crimson and took the sticky note out of his pocket. He showed it to Lewin, who proceeded to chuckle at it.

“Whoever it is knows what they’re doing.”

“I know,” Ryuuji said and shoved the paper back into his pocket.

 

* * *

 

**_Mar. 11th_ **

 

On Monday, Okumura didn’t actually run out of the class. He sits in his seat, looking tired.

“Wow, you stayed this time,” Shima said. “Wanna go to Ponchan?”

Okumura jumps and looks startled. “Uhh, yeah, sure!”

“Dude, were you like, asleep just now?”

“…Maybe.”

“Pfft. Come on, Bon, let’s go to Ponchan!”

“Go on without me, I gotta go to my locker,” Ryuuji said and walked out.

Inside the class, Moriyama takes a look at Okumura, and he doesn’t notice because he’s too busy panicking. “UH, actually, I just remembered I’ve gotta go do something! I will go to Ponchan, though! See ya!”

He runs out of the class and Moriyama lets out a silent sigh of relief.

“What the hell was that?” Kamiki said.

 

* * *

 

Rin runs past Suguro in the hallway and hears a small “What the—” and ignores it because _oh god oh fuck he’s gonna find me out this wasn’t the plan._

He uses his key to open the door and get to the hallway where Suguro’s locker is. He glances around and when he’s sure no one’s looking, he slips the folded post-it note through the slit in the locker door and finally lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

He realizes Suguro would probably get here soon and sure enough, he can see his undercut hair through the crowd, getting closer.

He decides to just walk in the other direction and play it casual, _oh, hey Suguro, fancy finding you here!_ , he’d say if he ran into him. Maybe Suguro would bring up the notes and Rin would say _that’s interesting, I wonder who it is!_

Nah. He wasn’t gonna do that. It was funny to think about, though, and it made his chest feel light. He decided to just make his way to Ponchan instead, smiling.

 

* * *

 

Ryuuji opened his locker to find the usual sticky note, except it was pink this time. 

_turns out i like you more_

_than originally planned._

_“true love is born from_

_understanding.” —Buddha_

_have a good monday!_

__\- R_ _

_Oh?_ A Buddha quote? Ryuuji knew this one.

“Hey Ryuuji! How’re the love notes coming up?” Lewin asked when Ryuuji walked through the door that day.

Ryuuji took the sticky note out of his pocket and showed it to him, wordless.

“Ah, a Buddha quote? They really know what they’re doing,” he exclaimed as he gave the note back to Ryuuji.

 

* * *

 

**_Mar. 12th_ **

 

The Post-it notes went back to yellow the next day.

_anyone can catch your_

_eye, but it takes someone_

_special to catch your heart_

__\- R_ _

Where were they _getting_ these phrases?

Whoever they were, they were being pretty vague and Ryuuji didn’t know what he was gonna do when he _did_ meet them, whoever they were. How were they going to reveal themselves, anyway?

 

* * *

 

**_Mar. 13th_ **

 

Ryuuji had no point to be going to his locker anymore. He’d stopped talking his scarf since the weather was starting to get nicer and it was near the end of winter, so when Shima asked why he was going to his locker, Ryuuji pretended to ignore him and just walked along because he really didn’t know what else he’d be going for.

_sometimes i wonder how you_

_put up with me, and then i_

_remember that i put up with you_

_so we’re even_

_♡_

__\- R_ _

_Oh._ So this _was_ someone Ryuuji knew. He wanted to start wondering who it was, but he didn’t wanna get any hopes up or have second thoughts.

When he showed Lewin the note that day, the older man couldn’t help but ponder for a little.

“Who do you think it is?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Ryuuji said with a small frown and put it back into his pocket. “I don’t wanna think about it too much. I’ve tried not to. I don’t even know what I’ll do once I find out.”

“You’re gonna find out?” Lewin asked. “Ohh, yeah, you’re gonna find out. How long have you been getting these?”

“Almost a week, excluding the weekend,” Ryuuji said and sat down at a nearby desk, putting his bag on the table, and dug through it. He found the previous notes from the past week; he’d been keeping them like mementos instead of throwing them away like the ones he’d gotten from girls. “And, uh, the dude wrote they’d reveal themselves on White Day itself.”

Lewin walked to the desk and read them over Ryuuji’s shoulder. “How many people do you know who’s name starts with R?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know if it’s the initial of a first name or a surname.” Ryuuji rested his chin on his fist and leaned towards the side so Lewin could read the notes better.

“I don’t know about you, but I feel like it’d be for a first name. Love letters are pretty personal,” Lewin said, everlasting smile somehow looking serious. “The only kids I know that you know whose first names start with an R are Shima Renzou-kun and that Okumura Rin kid, and to be frank with you I doubt it’s Shima-kun.”

Ryuuji’s eyes widened and he hunched back over the table, rereading the notes, trying to make sense of them. What _had_ Okumura been doing after class all week? Going to his locker and putting these notes in it?

One thought led to another and he realized, oh, _wow,_ he wouldn’t mind dating Okumura.

He realized he didn’t mind at all, so much that it was something he actually wanted.

Yikes. He was getting his hopes up.

“Okay,” he said to Lewin. His leg bounced and he ran his hands through his hair, covering his (now extremely warm) face with his forearms. “I got it. Thanks… for the help.”

“Good luck with it, then,” Lewin said and walked off to another room.

 

* * *

 

**_Mar 14th_ **

 

“Are you going to your locker again?” Shima asked at the end of class.

It was finally White Day and _oh boy was Ryuuji anxious._ Okumura ran out of class earlier than usual today and Ryuuji couldn’t help but pick up on it.

“Yeah,” the taller teen replied. “Why? You need somethin’?”

“Nah, I just wanna come with and look at the environment today,” he said. “I am a spy after a—”

“Okay, okay. I get it. You’re lonely and need to feed,” Ryuuji said with a scowl.

“Come on, you don’t gotta say it that meanly,” Shima said with a sad pout. “You coming, Koneko?”

“Sure.”

The Kyoto trio walked to Ryuuji’s locker and the whole time he felt himself sweating, finally bringing himself to wonder _what was gonna happen—_

And the second he realized, he saw exactly who it was, standing in front of his locker, and it made his heart stutter.

“Hey, Suguro,” Okumura said with a nervous smile. Ryuuji’s barely able to see that he’s holding a small bouquet of flowers behind his back.

“Hey, Okumura,” Ryuuji said back, kind of dazed. He realized Shima and Konekomaru hid behind the corner but he wasn’t gonna pay attention to that right now.

“So… I’m guessing you read the notes,” the white-haired teen said, rocking back and forth a little.

“Yeah, I did.”

Okumura held out the bouquet in front of him. It’s a decent amount (for White Day anyway) of red and white roses. “Wanna go on a date with me?” he asked carefully; so careful it was almost soft.

“Yeah,” Ryuuji replied, and his dazed expression turned into a small smile. He took the bouquet from Okumura. “I do.”

“Great, then,” he said and smiled, and Ryuuji could tell he was blushing. “Friday at 5. That sushi place downtown. Be there?”

“Of course,” Ryuuji said with a light chuckle. “It’d be stupid if I didn’t go.”

Okumura smiled and stepped closer to Ryuuji and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “See you in class tomorrow,” he said and walked away.

“See… you…” Ryuuji mumbled and reached up and felt his cheek right where Okumura kissed him, which would’ve made him think he had a fever if he somehow didn’t remember the context of the situation.

“WOOOO, _BON!_ YOU LANDED A _DATE!_ ” Shima yelled out once the hallway was almost empty. “And with _Okumura_ out of all people! Man, here I was, thinking you two would pretend to hate each other forever and never make a move!”

“Congratulations, Bon,” Konekomaru said happily.

Ryuuji scoffed, but grinned. “Thanks, guys.” He couldn’t get his hand off his cheek.

When he went to Lewin’s place that afternoon, the roses were the first thing his master noticed.

“‘Twas that Okumura, kid wasn’t it?”

“Ah… yeah,” Ryuuji said, rubbing the back of his neck again.

“Knew it,” he said, not unfocusing from what book he was reading. “He’s a good match for you. It’ll go well.”

 

* * *

 

Shiemi excitedly came up to Rin after the whole ordeal, having had been watching from a distance.

“That was so good, Rin!! You did it!!” She said, bouncing a little, hugging her textbooks tight as they walked the path they usually took when they walked together until they parted ways to go home.

“Thanks, Shiemi,” Rin said, unable to stop smiling. He covered his mouth with both hands and whispered, “I didn’t even plan that kiss at the end. It just happened,” he said. “Oh god, what if he didn’t want that? Shit, I should’ve asked first—”

“Rin, it’s gonna be okay!” the blonde girl reassured. “You know Suguro-kun, he’s clear when he doesn’t want something,” she said. “You did well!”

Rin uncovered his mouth and slung an arm over Shiemi’s shoulder, doing a side-hug for a moment. “Thanks, Shiemi.”

**Author's Note:**

> i was gonna post this either at the end of february or on white day itself but like? i finished it and decided to go ham. take it
> 
> my tumblr is [sugurobonryuuji](https://sugurobonryuuji.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
